Patents by Inventor Akihiro Toya

Akihiro Toya has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8827438
    Abstract: A recording apparatus includes a transport unit that intermittently transports an elongated recording medium from an upstream side to a downstream side as the lengthwise direction of the recording medium moves along a transport path. A recording unit adheres a recording material to the recording medium when the recording medium is stopped in a midstream position of the transport path. A drying unit downstream from the recording unit heats and dries the recording material. A contact member has a contact surface continuous contact with the surface of the recording medium opposite the surface thereof to which the recording material is adhered, from the time when the recording medium enters into the drying unit to the time when the recording medium is discharged from the drying unit. The contact member forms the transport path with the contact surface having at least one bent section in the drying unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Composition
    Inventors: Akihiro Toya, Shinji Kawakami
  • Patent number: 8827408
    Abstract: A recording device includes a conveying part that conveys roll paper, a support part that supports the roll paper, a suction part that holds the roll paper to the support part by suction, a recording part that ejects liquid and records an image on the roll paper, a heating part that heats the support part to dry the liquid, and a controller that causes the suction part to use a first suction force to hold the roll paper to the support part by suction when the recording part performs a recording action for recording the image, and causes the suction part to use a second suction force, which is weaker than the first suction force, to hold the roll paper to the support part by suction when the recording part is not performing the recording action for recording the image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Toya
  • Patent number: 8820879
    Abstract: A recording device includes a conveying part that conveys roll paper, a support part that supports the roll paper, a recording part that that ejects liquid and records an image on the roll paper; a heating part that heats the support part to dry the liquid discharged on the roll paper, a cleaning part that cleans the recording part, and a controller that causes the conveying part to convey the roll paper at a first speed when the recording part performs a recording action for recording the image, and causes the conveying part to convey the roll paper at a second speed, which is slower than the first speed, after the cleaning part performs a cleaning action for cleaning the recording part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Toya
  • Patent number: 8820884
    Abstract: A recording device includes a conveying part that conveys a roll paper, a support part that supports the roll paper, a recording part that ejects a liquid on the roll paper supported by the support part to record an image on the roll paper, a heating part that heats the support part to dry the liquid ejected on the roll paper, a cleaning part that cleans the recording part, and a controller that controls the conveying part to convey the roll paper while controlling the cleaning part to carry out a cleaning operation for cleaning the recording part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Toya
  • Publication number: 20140240417
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus includes a support that supports a medium; a head that discharges liquid to the medium transported onto the support; and a drying portion that dries the liquid that has landed on the medium. The liquid discharge apparatus has a heated area and a non-heated area. The drying portion is disposed in the heated area, and the support and the head are disposed in the non-heated area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2014
    Publication date: August 28, 2014
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Akihiro TOYA
  • Patent number: 8814345
    Abstract: A printing device has a support and heating unit, a head for discharging color image ink and background image ink on a medium supported by the support and heating unit, and a controller. The controller is configured to perform one of a color image printing process for discharging the color image ink and printing a color image on the medium, and a background image printing process for discharging the background image ink and printing a background image that is a background of the color image on the medium, and to perform the other one of the processes subsequent to the one of the process. The controller is further configured to execute a wait process of evacuating the head to an evacuation position from above the support and heating unit to have the head wait at the evacuation position between the color image printing process and the background image printing process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Akihiro Toya, Kazuaki Sakurada
  • Patent number: 8814290
    Abstract: An image recording device includes a support member, a recording head, a surface modifying apparatus, a conveyor unit, and a control unit. The surface modifying apparatus executes surface modification processing to modify a surface of the recording medium at a processing position disposed on an upstream side of the support member. The conveyor unit intermittently passes the recording medium through the processing position at a prescribed passage velocity by feeding the recording medium from the upstream side of the conveyance path to the processing position. The control unit is capable of providing a processing execution signal to the surface modifying apparatus, and provides the processing execution signal to the surface modifying apparatus for a prescribed time within a wait time from when passage of the recording medium through the processing position stops until the recording medium starts passing through the processing position at the prescribed passage velocity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Satoru Katagami, Akihiro Toya, Hiroyuki Santo, Hideyuki Nagasawa
  • Publication number: 20140218454
    Abstract: An image recording device includes a recording part, a conveying part, a medium support part, a suction part and a control part. The medium support part is configured and arranged to support the medium on a support surface provided with openings of suction holes. The suction part is configured and arranged to suction the medium supported on the medium support part via the suction holes. The suction part includes a plurality of air-blowing mechanisms aligned in series with respect to an introducing and discharging direction of air. The control part is configured to repeatedly perform an action of conveying the medium using the conveying part and an action of recording the image on the medium using the recording part. The control part is configured to drive each of the air-blowing mechanisms independently.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2014
    Publication date: August 7, 2014
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Akihiro TOYA
  • Patent number: 8783855
    Abstract: An image recording device includes a suction part that suctions a medium supported on a medium support part via suction holes, the medium being suctioned by at least two air-blowing parts, and a control part that stops one of the air-blowing parts during an action preceding the conveying action, whereby a first mode in which a first suction force is applied by the suction part on the medium is switched to a second mode in which a second suction force that is lower than the first suction force is applied by the suction part on the medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Toya
  • Patent number: 8777398
    Abstract: An ink jet printer includes a platen in which a plurality of plate members configuring a support surface supporting a roll paper are disposed at a predetermined interval so that suction grooves are formed between the plate members, a recording unit for performing a recording process on the roll paper placed on the support surface, a pressure chamber disposed at the back side of the platen and communicating with the suction grooves, and a suction mechanism for sucking up the roll paper disposed on the support surface through the suction grooves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Toya
  • Patent number: 8746834
    Abstract: An image recording device includes a conveying part that conveys a medium along a conveying path, a first medium support part that supports a region of the medium positioned in an image recording area on the conveying path and heats the region, a second medium support part disposed in an upstream area from the image recording area on the conveying path, and supports an upstream region of the medium positioned in the upstream area and heats the upstream region, and a temperature control part that controls a temperature of the first medium support part and a temperature of the second medium support part so that the temperature of the second medium support part corresponding to the upstream region is lower than the temperature of the first medium support part corresponding to the region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Toya
  • Patent number: 8714735
    Abstract: A recording apparatus includes: a platen in which first suction holes passing through from a medium support surface to a rear surface are formed; first pressure chambers provided to communicate with the first suction holes; a second pressure chamber disposed on the side opposite to the platen and communicating with the first pressure chambers; a wall section which is disposed between the first pressure chambers and the second pressure chamber and in which second suction holes each making the first pressure chamber and the second pressure chamber communicate with each other are formed; a suction mechanism which suctions rolled paper on the medium support surface through the first and second suction holes; and a slide plate movable in a parallel fashion along the wall section and provided with blocking portions having different lengths in a direction of parallel movement and capable of blocking the second suction holes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Shigeki Kato, Jun Yamada, Akihiro Toya
  • Publication number: 20140118454
    Abstract: A recording device includes a conveying part, a recording part, a suction part and a control part. The conveying part is configured and arranged to convey a medium. The recording part is configured and arranged to record on the medium. The suction part is configured and arranged to suction the medium on a flat surface. The control part is configured to perform a suction action by a suction part to eliminate wrinkles that form in the medium after a conveying action by the conveying part and before a recording action by the recording part, and to vary a period of the suction action by the suction part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 2, 2014
    Publication date: May 1, 2014
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Akihiro TOYA
  • Patent number: 8708480
    Abstract: A recording apparatus includes: a medium support section which supports a recording medium by a medium support surface having a penetration portion; a recording process section which performs a recording process on the recording medium; a suction device which is connected to the medium support section and makes suction power act on the recording medium through the penetration portion; and a control section which controls driving of the suction device, wherein a mesh member of a convex shape which is provided so as to be related to the penetration portion and protrudes farther than the medium support surface is provided at the medium support section, and the mesh member is configured so as to be able to be elastically deformed when the suction power acts on the recording medium of the suction device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Toya
  • Patent number: 8678536
    Abstract: A printing device has a support and heating unit for supporting and heating a medium, a head for discharging color image ink and background image ink on the medium supported by the support and heating unit, and a controller. The controller is configured to perform a color image printing process for executing a plurality of color image recording passes by which the head is moved relative to the medium in a moving direction, and a background image printing process. The controller is configured to execute a wait process of evacuating the head from above the support and heating unit and moving it to an evacuation position to have the head wait at the evacuation position for at least one of between the color image recording passes and between the background image recording passes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Akihiro Toya, Kazuaki Sakurada
  • Patent number: 8678579
    Abstract: An image recording device includes a suction part and a control part. The suction part is configured to suction a medium on a medium support part via suction holes and has a negative pressure chamber communicating with the suction holes and at least two air-blowing parts whereby air inside the negative pressure chamber is discharged and negative pressure is generated in the negative pressure chamber, the air-blowing parts being attached at different positions on an outer surface of the negative pressure chamber. The control part is configured to switch between a first mode in which a suction force of the suction part on the medium is set to a first suction force and a second mode in which the suction force is set to a second suction force lower than the first suction force. The control part is configured to stop one of the air-blowing parts in the second mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Toya
  • Publication number: 20140078201
    Abstract: A fluid ejecting apparatus includes a pair of guide rails that movably supports a carriage and an abnormal portion detecting sensor that has a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion for receiving a light beam emitted from the light emitting portion, in which the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion are mounted on the carriage via a sensor mounting member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 3, 2013
    Publication date: March 20, 2014
    Inventors: Seigo MIZUTANI, Shigeki KATO, Akihiro TOYA, Toshiki OGASAWARA
  • Publication number: 20140055541
    Abstract: A recording apparatus includes a transport unit that intermittently transports an elongated recording medium from an upstream side to a downstream side as the lengthwise direction of the recording medium moves along a transport path. A recording unit adheres a recording material to the recording medium when the recording medium is stopped in a midstream position of the transport path. A drying unit downstream from the recording unit heats and dries the recording material. A contact member has a contact surface continuous contact with the surface of the recording medium opposite the surface thereof to which the recording material is adhered, from the time when the recording medium enters into the drying unit to the time when the recording medium is discharged from the drying unit. The contact member forms the transport path with the contact surface having at least one bent section in the drying unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 19, 2013
    Publication date: February 27, 2014
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akihiro TOYA, Shinji KAWAKAMI
  • Patent number: 8646906
    Abstract: An image recording device includes a conveying part that conveys a portion of a medium to an image recording area, a recording part that records an image on the medium positioned in the image recording area, a medium support part that supports the medium positioned in the image recording area on a support surface provided with openings of suction holes and that heats the medium, a suction part that suctions the medium supported on the medium support part via the suction holes, and a control part that repeatedly performs a conveying action and a recording action, and that suctions the medium supported on the medium support part after the next conveying action and before the recording action when a period from the previous conveying action until the next conveying action is equal to or greater than a predetermined period that is longer than the period required by the recording action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Toya
  • Publication number: 20140009526
    Abstract: A recording device includes a conveying part that conveys roll paper, a support part that supports the roll paper, a recording part that that ejects liquid and records an image on the roll paper; a heating part that heats the support part to dry the liquid discharged on the roll paper, a cleaning part that cleans the recording part, and a controller that causes the conveying part to convey the roll paper at a first speed when the recording part performs a recording action for recording the image, and causes the conveying part to convey the roll paper at a second speed, which is slower than the first speed, after the cleaning part performs a cleaning action for cleaning the recording part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 9, 2013
    Publication date: January 9, 2014
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Akihiro TOYA